


late nights and stadium lights.

by ofmurphys



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Exy, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-03
Updated: 2017-11-10
Packaged: 2019-01-28 23:56:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12618460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofmurphys/pseuds/ofmurphys
Summary: There in the middle of the court was Keith Kogane, an exy stick in hand and the look of pure determination plastered on his face. Perhaps this occurrence would appear mundane to anyone else but this was Keith Kogane in the middle of Altea Court as if this was perfectly normal; which it most certainly was not.





	1. chapter one

**Author's Note:**

  * For [vm1ni](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vm1ni/gifts).



> This is an AU centered around the fictional sport Exy from the book series All for the Game by Nora Sakavic, which this is also loosely inspired by. You don't need to know a whole lot about the book or the sport but if you would like to have a general idea about the sport itself [here's](http://foxhole-court.wikia.com/wiki/Exy) a link to information regarding it. 
> 
> Also, I'm dedicating this fic to my friend who I dragged into the tfc fandom and who also helped come up with each characters exy position which will be listed in the end notes.

It was the morning of their first practice of the year when Lance found himself on the other side of the plexiglass perplexed by the very sight in front of him. There in the middle of the court was Keith Kogane, an exy stick in hand and the look of pure determination plastered on his face. Perhaps this occurrence would appear mundane to anyone else but this was _Keith Kogane_ in the middle of Altea Court as if this was perfectly normal; which it most certainly was not.

He was transfixed by the sight and stayed still with his eyes glued onto the other boy as he watched him hurl the ball against the wall, with a surprising amount of force, and catching it in the net of his stick over and over again. Perhaps he would’ve stayed watching this surprising sight for much longer if he hadn’t felt a hand on his shoulder causing him to gasp and startle backwards and whipping his head towards where Shiro stood behind him.

“You’re here early.” Shiro noted and Lance let his gaze fall back towards where Keith was still throwing the ball.

“You say that as if you're surprised.” Lance noted, because the thing was Lance was always on time. In fact it was weirder to see someone else here _before_ him.

“Practice isn't scheduled for another two hours.”

“I know… But it's the first practice of the year.”

It wasn't what he wanted to say because what he really wanted say, or rather ask, was address why _the_ Keith Kogane was on their court and not 4 hours away practicing at Galra Court where he belonged.

 

-

 

Two hours later the entire team was spread out in the court’s lounge room, where they went to discuss important matters and upcoming games before every practice. There was a steady chatter coming from every spot in the room, on one couch there was Plaxum and Nyma who were talking among themselves, then there was Shay and Hunk on another engaged in what looked like a serious discussion, and then there was Pidge who was on the end of that couch angled towards where Matt and Rolo were sitting together.

Instead of being in Lance’s typical spot with Nyma and Plaxum he settled for leaning against the wall with his gaze trained on the only unusual sight in the entire room. There in the very far corner was Keith, whose presence still mystified him, who was currently on a stool that had been pulled over to the farthest spot from everyone else with Shiro standing above him with his arm on Keith’s shoulder.

There was a small pull within him that longed to go over towards them but the other boy already looked uncomfortable and Lance intruding wouldn’t do any good.

“Alright everyone,” Coran announced as he walked into the room with Allura trailing in behind him calling everyone to attention and Lance quickly found his spot beside Nyma. “I’m sure all of you have many questions.”

There was a quiet mumble of agreement and Lance couldn’t help but look over at Keith who had seemed to shrink into himself as if noticing all the eyes that had flicked over towards him.

“I’d like to introduce Keith Kogane our newest team member and starting striker.”

This announcement was followed by a series of smiles and and chorus of ‘Welcome to the team’. The fact that they had a new striker was not news to Lance because he was always aware that they’d be getting a new member but the fact that their new striker was _Keith_ was the surprising part, no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t wrap his head around it.

At least it had answered one of his questions but it had also created several more, most prominently, _why?_ Why did Keith leave the Galra Generals to join the Altea Lions?

He wanted to ask, to voice his curiosity but one look over at Keith who was in the corner - as far as he could get from everyone else - with his eyes casted downwards had forced his mouth to stay shut. It was obvious that now was not the time because his curiosity was less important than Keith's comfort and it was obvious enough that the boy felt uncomfortable and Lance had no business in making it worse.

Once all the typical first team meeting stuff was over and they were told to go get their gear on Lance jumped up and instead of going to the change rooms he made a bee-line to Keith.

“Hey Keith.” Lance called out as he walked over to make sure the other boy didn’t leave before he got a chance to talk to him. He watched as Keith looked over at him with a startled and slightly confused expression on his face.

“I know we already welcomed you to the team but I just… Well, I wanted to say it in person and let you know that if you have any questions I’m here. I mean I know you have Shiro but… It doesn’t hurt to have more people to go to, I guess.” _That went horribly_ , Lance thought to himself and cursing his inability to stay cool around him.

“Who are you?” It was the bluntness to Keith’s question that had him recoiling and he felt his flimsy ego take a hit.

“I'm Lance—Lance Alvarez?” He heard it in his own tone as his words had turned into a question and he was both shocked and a little offended that there was no recognition in the other boys eyes.

“I’ve never heard of you.”

Once again he felt Keith’s words like a hit to the gut and he couldn’t quite understand why it hurt as badly as it did and instead of saying anything in return Lance turned around and left to get ready for practice.

_I won’t let this get to me._

That was the half-hearted lie Lance told himself to get through the practice.

 

-

 

After the meeting they had a long practice that went surprisingly well when Allura went easy on them with the team drills. Last year, when she was announced as team captain they were all incredibly happy for her - still were - but she had went hard on them and pushed them to their limits because she knew they were capable of so much more and Coran let her have more say than any other team captain before them because he knew they would be better off for it.

And he was right.

They had never been the worst team but they had also never been the best team either, every year they would make it to championships but they would always without fail lose to the Galra Generals: their biggest rivals. Every year was a fight to beat them but last year with Allura as captain they stood a fighting chance and when they lost it wasn’t a crushing defeat like they were used to and this year they were gunning after the championship title and with Keith on their team Lance thought they just might win.


	2. Chapter 2

It was nearing the end of their practice when Lance stared in awe as Keith took a shot, that by all logic should’ve missed, but didn’t. The unlikely shot had everyone cheering with himself including but below all his admiration was a little pinprick of jealously as everyone praised Keith. It made him feel guilty so he pushed it down and pretended like the only thing he felt in this moment was joy in regards to Keith.

“That was an amazing shot!” Lance exclaimed and if anyone noticed the flicker in his smile they didn't mention it.

“Okay, let’s call it a day!” Allura interjected with a giant smile still taking residence on her face and he almost thought he saw the look of hope lingering in her eyes.

Keith was amazing and exactly the edge they needed to win, they all knew it except maybe Keith himself who looked overwhelmed and still had that tell-tale frown in place as everyone else left in the direction of the change rooms.

“Hey!” He called out bringing Keith’s focus onto him, “That really was amazing.”

“Uh… Thanks?” Despite the unsure tone Lance took it and left the other boy with a small smile before going to the change rooms himself.

_ We need to beat them. _

_ We need to beat them. _

_ We  _ **_will_ ** _ beat them. _

This had always been a reoccurring thought and not just to Lance but to all of them. It wasn't just a friendly rivalry, no it was more than that. He knew all about the horrors that came with being a Galra General, had heard it all from Shiro who had once been a backliner for the very team they longed to beat. When Shiro first came to them he was haunted and broken, left with nothing but his will to go on.

The Galra had always strived for greatness, for the glory, and didn’t care what they had to do to get it. They’d overwork their players to the point of cruelty and Shiro had first hand experience. He had been apart of the team for years and had only lost his spot when he had broken his arm beyond repair.

He lost his arm but he didn’t lose his dream.

At least that’s what Shiro had told them all when he said that Exy had never been his dream but rather a future he was forced into. Instead he had always wanted to be a doctor and now he was the team’s medical nurse but he’d still help give tips on how they could improve their drills.

It had made Lance wonder why Keith had came now and not years ago, knowing that Shiro had wanted Keith to leave with him.

He wanted to ask but he knew it wasn’t any of his business.

 

-

 

There was no denying that Lance and Keith were both amazing players, it showed not only in statistics but in their performances as well, but it didn’t matter how good they were on their own because teamwork was the key to winning. It showed in their first game together when they refused to work together, resulting in a colossal losing score of 10-2. After that they were forced by Coran and Allura to spend the next week practicing together on team drills while the rest of the team got to relax and as much as Lance would like to say it was unfair he knew deep down that they were right. At the rate they were going they’d never make it to championships all because Lance and Keith couldn’t put aside their pride and do what was best for the team as a whole. So, Lance put up only a bit of a fight on the matter before giving it his all in trying to work with Keith.

He put his pride aside all together and sought the boy out and asked for his help because Keith was in fact an amazing player and there was a lot he could learn from him. It had went a lot better than he had anticipated when Keith had agreed without any hesitation and they practiced together  _ every night _ . Lance would head to his car at 7pm and the other striker would be right there leaning against it and then they’d silently make their way to the court. It was a tradition that was becoming more and more comfortable with every night that passed.

They both benefited from it and each boy was able to teach the other something new and it showed in their following games. They became an unstoppable force, like two pieces of the same machine that worked in perfect harmony leaving the rest of the team stunned. Especially in the second to last game before the championships when they pulled off a startling move as if they knew exactly what to do without saying a single word in the last few seconds in the game.

The ending came and Lance was running on adrenaline when he ran over to Keith embracing the other boy as they jumped together in excitement.

“We do make a good team.” Lance whispered, his expression fond and his eyes full of unaltered emotion.

 

-

 

It wasn't uncommon to find Keith on the roof of the athletic dorm building, with the night sky as a backdrop, he once told Lance that he liked it up here because it was quiet. 

If Lance was being honest he never used to come up here, never saw the point, but now this was a frequent setting and not for the quiet. Rather, he came up here to be with Keith. He wouldn't admit it but he often would seek out the other boy because Lance enjoyed having him around, it felt comfortable and familiar; but also scary – it sent his nerves skyrocketing – because he always felt on the cusp of saying things better left unsaid.

( _You make me nervous. There's something beautiful about your smile after you score_.)

“Can you believe there's only one game left until championships?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Are you nervous?” 

It was silent for far too long, that Lance didn't think he'd answer, until he heard the faintest reply. 

“I can't afford to be nervous.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“We need to win, I can’t make any mistakes.”

“You play as if you have nothing to lose, all action no thought. It's amazing. You're amazing.” 

“It's all I have.” 

“That's not true, you have us. You have me. We're a family.” 

“ _Family_.”

Keith whispered hesitantly like the word felt new and he was testing out how it felt and it must've felt right if the small smile that followed meant anything.

**Author's Note:**

> Allura, Offensive Dealer/Captain  
> Nyma, Defensive Dealer  
> Lance, Striker  
> Keith, Striker  
> Plaxum, Striker  
> Pidge, Goalkeeper  
> Shay, Goalkeeper  
> Matt, Backliner  
> Hunk, Backliner  
> Rolo, Backliner 
> 
> Coach: Coran  
> Nurse: Shiro  
> Therapist: Slav


End file.
